Tip

We recommend that you start the procedures 6 months before the planned defense date.

Assignement of doctoral/ PhD thesis reviewers

  • The dissertation will be assessed by two external experts in respective research field (habilitated or equivalent qualification) and preferably outside of Austria.
  • Together with the supervisor(s) the PhD student suggests three reviewers/Gutachter*innen (SL.D3 Assignment of a thesis to reviewers.pdf). The final approval of the reviewers will be done by the President for Studies/ Studienpräses.
  • Qualifications of reviewers: "Examiners will be members of the appropriate scientific community, have excellent scientific and academic credentials and be either qualified professors or hold an academic qualification equivalent to that of an Austrian professorship (“Habilitation”). To guarantee objectivity, there should be no close relationship between an examiner and the candidate – unless the former is also the candidate’s thesis supervisor – and they should not have written any joint publications or be members of the same study group." (Doctoral Studies und travel costs for external reviewers / examiners, p.1)
  • The reviewers have a maximum of 4 months to review the thesis and to write their report. Only if both reviewers submit a positive report on the thesis, the doctoral candidate can register for the public defense. If a reviewer assesses the thesis negatively then the thesis is handed to a further reviewer. If he/she also assesses the thesis negatively then the overall result is negative and the thesis has to be revised before it can be handed in again.

For more details, see the information sheet of the Office of the President for Studies Legislation and Affairs.

Submission of thesis

 Templates & Forms

 Submission of all required documents to

Doctoral programmes in Pharmacy and Nutritional Sciences

PhD programme in Sport Science